White Horse
by avadakedavras
Summary: AU. TxG. 'I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairytale. I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet, lead her up the stairwell...' Whoever said fairytales had happily ever afters… they were wrong. Dead wrong. R&R.
1. PROLOGUE

Well, well, well, it's been a while since I wrote a fanfic haha. Okay, so I think I'm gonna scrap Let's Take It Slow because I have no more muse for that anymore. I'll leave it up just in case I feel like writing it again, but I apologize. This is going to be something different than what I have ever written before – and I'm taking a different approach by writing chapters in advance and this fanfic I'm writing is going to be a little… angsty? I don't know… Lol. TBHIS IS TOTAL ALTERNATE UNIVERSE K.

**Dedication:** To all my past readers (: this is for you.

**Disclaimer:** High School Musical and its characters are owned by Disney, I only own this plot, a laptop, and a few High School Musical posters haha. The title for this story belongs to Taylor Swift (:

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**PROLOGUE**

'_I'm not a princess, this ain't a fairytale,  
I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet,  
Lead her up the stairwell.  
This ain't Hollywood, this is a small town,  
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down  
Now it's too late for you and your white horse  
To come around…'_

- **Taylor Swift; **_**White Horse**_**.**

-----

Heart-wrenching sobs erupted from her mouth as she slid down the wooden frame of her queen-sized bed and onto the floor. So many thoughts and questions filled her mind, why did he do it? Did he not love her? Was she not good enough for him? After three years, he was ready to let go of her just like that without her asking why? Who the hell did he think he was, breaking her apart like this? As she sat on the floor of the foot of her bed, she wiped the salty tears that had cascaded down her face and glanced down at her clothing, cursing to herself as she spotted a big tear in the skirt of her red dress as well as dirty stains and wet smudges courtesy of her tears and if you asked her to stand up, you would see that one of her heels were broken. But that was the least of her worries at the moment. Sniffing slightly, her lip quivered as the realization hit.

Her prom was ruined.

She had always dreamed of this day, spending all day with her girl best friend since she was five, getting ready for the glorious event, taking pictures, corsages, spending time with friends before it was time to graduate, the last dance she would have of high school with her date… Prom was supposed to be a night to remember but it was a night she wanted to forget. How long was he going to lead her on for? All the 'I love you's' and sweet kisses were all a lie. Their whole relationship was a lie. The past three years with him all a fucking lie. Yanking the silver chain that held a heart-shaped locket she wore around her neck that symbolized their relationship, she threw it across her bedroom not caring where it went, just as long it was away from her. The silver locket hit her dresser and cracked open, revealing a picture of them on the right and a message on the left that she memorized since she got it years ago…

_'My Baby Girl, _

_My life, my rock, my everything.  
I love you so much, sweetheart.  
Never ever forget that. You mean  
the whole world, my future is you._

_Forever & always,  
Your Wildcat.'_

The words engraved on the locket played out in her head and she couldn't help but scoff. What a fucking joke. She gave him everything her heart could give but obviously it wasn't enough. If it was, then why did he break her heart on a night she wanted to cherish forever? Never did she think he would be heartless and break up with her on prom night. Why now? Why not later or before?

Her life with him was like a fairytale or said the student body of East High. Best friends since they were practically in diapers, started dating as soon as their freshman year was over - the summer before their sophomore year, they were the "Golden Couple", everyone knew they lived a fairytale life, they never fought, a few disagreements sure, never once did they look at others, they lived a life people always dreamed of. But whoever said fairytales had happily ever afters… they were wrong. Dead wrong.

A soft knock broke the silence of the atmosphere in her room. Glancing at the clock, it read eleven thirty-seven pm. She knew who it was; she knew how worried she must have been when she ran out of the hotel ballroom, crying her eyes out just as soon as she and her now ex-boyfriend walked back inside from the patio where they talked. Getting up slowly, the brunette smoothed out her ruined dress and limped her way to her bedroom door. Grabbing the doorknob, she held it for support as she took off her broken heels and threw them on her bed. When she opened the door, she came face to face with her best friend. More tears seemed to fall from her eyes as her dark skinned best friend gave her a sympathetic look. It wasn't before long, she was engulfed in a hug which resulted her bursting into another fit of tears.

"You had me worried sick, sweetie." her best friend whispered softly. The brunette bit her lip as she shook her head, "I'm sorry, Tay…" she whispered back, her voice raspy and hoarse. They made their way to the bed and Taylor McKessie stared at her best friend as soon as they sat down and she could feel her heartbreak for her. Never once did she think the "Golden Couple" would ever break up, he always devoted his life to the girl in her arms at that moment, claiming that he would do anything to make her happy. It was all a lie though, he promised he would never hurt her, but he did. He lied.

"No," Taylor stated shaking her head, "I'm sorry, hun." She looked into the brown eyes that once held life and happiness only to stare at eyes that were dark and dull and bit her lip. How was she supposed to make her best friend feel better? There was no way she would get over a three-year relationship just like that. It was going to be a long and tough process.

"You don't need to be sorry, Taylor. It wasn't your fault Tr- _he_ broke up with me." It hurt too much to even say his name. She couldn't do it. She also had a feeling she could sleep that night without dreaming of his face, wishing he would sneak into her room like he usually did whenever her mother was working out late and he'd wrap her in his arms and they slept. "What did I do wrong, Tay? What did I do to deserve this? Was I not good enough for him or something? Is there someone else?"

She honestly didn't know what to say to her. What could you say to your broken best friend? "Elle… no one deserves to have their heartbroken. I don't know what he was thinking for breaking up with you, you guys were so happy. Chad's talking to him right now, he wanted to come see you, but he was sure you would've wanted me to first."

She nodded, as much as she loved Chad Danforth, Taylor's boyfriend of a year and a half like a brother, she needed her girl best friend. "I'm sorry I ruined your night." She knew how much prom meant to Taylor as well and she knew how badly it must have sucked chasing after a girl who just got her heartbroken on prom night.

"Gabriella…" Taylor started, hugging her tightly, "You did not ruin my night, Chad could tell you the same thing. Prom is the least of our worries; it's you we're worried about. You have no idea. Kelsi freaked out when you took the limo and Sharpay chased after lunk-head basketball boy demanding what the hell he did to you."

"You told Shar and Kels to stay, right?" Gabriella Montez asked quietly. She couldn't bear the thought of ruining her friends' night because of her. The other girl smiled slightly, "They wanted to come, but then they realized that you would feel really guilty about 'ruining' their prom night so they stayed at the hotel. They might come by later on tonight." Gabriella nodded again before resting her head on Taylor's shoulder, "Thank you for being here for me, Tay."

Rubbing Gabriella's back, Taylor smiled softly, resting her cheek on the girl's head, "Always, Gabs, always."

As the clock struck twelve the two girls sat in silence, Gabriella stared at the clock and could feel tears threatening to fall from her eyes. In Cinderella, she had to be home by midnight. Cinderella got her Prince Charming in the end. The students of East High once told her that her life was a fairytale and she was a princess because she had a prince charming. They were wrong.

Gabriella Montez was no longer a princess. She no longer had a fairytale ending. Why? Because Troy Bolton, the love of her life, was no longer her prince charming.

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Short and crappy? LMAO. Well this is a prologue though and I kinda like it. But I haven't written in a long time so it might seem a bit off. I promise next chapter will be better. Hopefully this weekend or next week! PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!


	2. ONE: YOU CAN'T BREAK A BROKEN HEART

Wow. Kay so I seriously didn't think I would get 19 reviews for that Prologue. Why? Well for one, I didn't think it was that good. Second, I suck at updating so I didn't think people would give this a look over because of my track-record. LMAO. But oh my goodness. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR KIND REVIEWS, EVERYONE (: It really, really, really means a lot to me! Hopefully you guys weren't weirded out by me replying to your reviews… LMFAO. I mean, I'm a nice person that's why I do things like that ;D Haha. I will be doing dedications, why? Because usually these people inspire me and push me to write. Lol. Anyways here is chapter ONE. (:

Oh yes and NOTE THAT; the reason for Troy breaking up with Gabriella, is really, really, really, really, really stupid. Well I think so anyways. Troy's just… and idiot but let's just say, it's going to take a lot for Gabriella to forgive him. A lot. AND AND AND, SILVIA, I APOLOGIZE FOR THE TWILIGHT REFERENCE, YEAH? I KNOW HOW YOU HATE IT. Forgive me for using Team Switzerland though, kay? LMAO.

**Dedication:** The lovely of my lifey, HAHA. You know who you are ;D

**Disclaimer:** I. Do. Not. Own. High. School. Freaking. Musical. If I did, I would've told Disney to take a hike and put some hardcore Troyella kinky-ness in High School Musical 3. LMFAOOO HAHA. And the title of this chapter is by the amazing Kate Voegele so I don't own that either. Kthxsbai.

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**CHAPTER ONE:  
YOU CAN'T BREAK A BROKEN HEART**

'_So try your best now baby, try your best to break me,  
You can't break a broken heart.  
No damage you can do now, I'm immune to you now,  
You can't break what you broke apart.  
There's nothing you can do to me no more,  
You can't break a broken heart.'_

**- Kate Voegele; **_**You Can't Break A Broken Heart.**_

-----

She made her way towards her locker that Monday morning, blocking out all the whispers and sympathetic looks that came her way. It seemed as if everybody knew about her and her now ex-boyfriend's break-up on prom night. _'People need to mind their own fucking business. Stay out of my damn life._' Gabriella thought angrily as she approached her locker and opened it furiously. Her whole weekend had been a blur, she was upset, angry, frustrated with everything since Troy had dropped the 'b' word on her – break up being the 'b' word. Taylor, Kelsi, and Sharpay all had tried their hardest to make their friend feel better but in the end, as much as Gabriella appreciated it, it only helped a little bit. You couldn't mend a broken heart in a forty-eight hour time span. That Monday morning, she tried her best to make sure she looked presentable, to make it look like she was fine without him. No longer were there bags under her eyes, her hair was up in a messy but neat bun, the only thing that seemed to scream out she wasn't fine was her outfit which was a pair of sweats and running shoes.

In the corner of her eye as she grabbed a notebook off the top shelf, she could see and hear three sophomore girls gossiping about her and she couldn't help but glare their way. What did they know? They were fucking sophomores for crying out loud. They didn't know shit.

"I heard Troy dumped her ass because he didn't love her anymore. He didn't cheat on her."

"No he loves her, he just felt guilty for cheating on her that he broke up with her."

"You're both wrong, he fell in love with someone else so he had to dump her."

'_Note to self, get Sharpay to bitch at them later.' _The brunette thought bitterly thinking about her blonde friend who happened to be the 'Ice Queen' of the school. If you messed with anybody the feisty blonde was close to, you messed with the biggest bitch of the school. Gabriella shook her head, averting her eyes away from the three girls and shoved the notebook in her tote bag. She was usually never mean, she never gave glares to people. Gabriella Anne Montez was the sweetest person you would have ever met at East High. But then again, that was before Troy Alexander Bolton broke her heart.

As she shut her locker and turned her heel to head on over to homeroom, she bumped into the one person that she did not want to see at all. The one that had haunted her dreams since that fateful night, the one that broke her in half, the one that she devoted her last three years to. All eyes were on them, she knew that for a fact. Every single student from every single grade, staring at the broken couple in the middle of the hallway.

There was something different about him as he stood in front of her since the break up. He looked worse than the way she looked at that moment and he was the dumper. He should've looked better than her; he wasn't the one that was supposed to look broken. He was the one that hurt her, he dumped her, he left her. His eyes had blackish-purple bags under them, his beautiful, vibrant, ocean blue eyes no longer held the sparkle, they were now dull and gray. His hair was disheveled and he hadn't shaved in what seemed to be since Friday. Not to mention, his jeans and t-shirt were slightly wrinkled. If Gabriella didn't know any better, she would've never thought that his whole appearance was because of Friday.

They stared at each other for a long time, not one of them stirred, not even the people around them. It wasn't before long the silence was broken by the bitch of all bitches, Sharpay Evans, accompanied by her twin brother Ryan and his girlfriend, Kelsi Neilson.

"Nothing to fucking see here people! Go mind your damn business!" she shrieked as people quickly scurried away, granting the blonde her entrance, a few watching as the Ice Queen, Drama King, and Composer walk over to their broken friends. Sharpay immediately went to the brunette, glaring in the basketball captain's way as she draped an arm over Gabriella's shoulders. "Can I help you, Bolton?" she asked raising an eyebrow. Troy glared at the girl he used to call his friend and basically an almost sister – almost. Everyone seemed to be against him. Well, Sharpay was, it was obvious she was on Team Gabriella; the rest of the gang was on Team Switzerland, meaning they couldn't choose between the two so they were neutral.

"Shar…" Ryan warned. It was bad enough his sister was being a complete bitch to one of her closest friends but he understood where she was coming from. It wasn't like Troy to break up with Gabriella for no reason at all. Sharpay was just being a good friend to Gabriella because she was the one that got hurt. He turned over to his girlfriend of six months who was talking quietly to Troy, asking him if he talked to Gabriella yet. Seeing his head shake, Ryan sighed. After the break up had been ensued at prom on Friday and Sharpay had stopped her nagging and left for Gabriella's house to meet up with Taylor and Gabriella, Kelsi, Ryan, and Chad were the only ones Troy opened up to that night (he opened up to Taylor yesterday afternoon). He explained to them why he had to do it and when he did, Ryan couldn't help but think that it was all stupid and messed up. However, the regret in Troy's eyes were unbearable, no one had ever seen the Wildcat Superstar break down into tears until then.

Sharpay glared at Troy back before turning to Gabriella, "Is he bothering you?" she asked. Gabriella shook her head, gripping her bag tightly to her side, "Have you seen Tay?"

Kelsi looked up from Troy before smiling slightly at her, "She's in the science lab, she said she needed to talk to Ms. Rodriguez about her final marks." Gabriella cracked a smile at the small girl and nodded, "Thanks Kels."

There was a slight awkward silence now between everyone but Ryan cleared his throat and looked at the four in front of him. "We should get to homeroom, you know how Darbus gets when we're late," he said. Sharpay flicked her blonde hair over her shoulder and started to walk, glaring at the people who still decided to stand by and watch them. One by one they followed the Queen, Ryan right after, then the other three. Gabriella hooked her arm through Kelsi's and bit her lip as she saw Troy look at her.

And in the first time in forty-eight and a plus hours, he talked to her. "Brie…" his voice sounding raspy and hoarse, "we need to talk." The look of desperation in his eyes, the look of guilt, the look of love, Gabriella saw it all there. Now he wanted to explain himself. She turned to Kelsi who was silently pleading with her telling her to say yes, let him explain himself, he loves her . Gabriella looked at both of them, detaching herself from Kelsi and shook her head, tears threatening to fall.

"I have nothing to say to you," she whispered softly before running up to catch up with Sharpay and Ryan, leaving Kelsi and Troy there. Kelsi looked over at him sympathetically before nodding her head towards the direction of their homeroom signaling they should get to class. He nodded slightly, "Go ahead, I'll catch up with you later," he said quietly and she nodded and left.

He could feel the tears leaking through his eyelids as he closed them in pain. He needed to explain to her why he did it, why he had to break both of them, why it was for the best. But she didn't want to hear it. She didn't want to talk to him. Two hearts broken. He could feel the remains of his broken heart break even more if possible.

As the bell rang, students scrambled to their classes, leaving Troy alone into the hallway. Shoving his hands deep into his pockets he held the object buried deep inside his jeans and he made his way to homeroom. Three years. Three fucking years and he had to go and fuck it up. Taking out the item in his pants, he gripped the small velvet box in his hands. It was weeks ago since he bought it, months even. It was something he knew would change their lives forever but he messed up. He just had to mess up. He needed to explain to her everything, but she wouldn't listen and the thought of that hurt him. It couldn't break him anymore, just hurt him. She couldn't break his already broken heart anymore, and he knew he couldn't break hers. But whose fault was that, really? The answer was quite simple actually.

His.

And he wasn't going to deny it.

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Love it, hate it, review itttttttt?! Bwahaha. I think it was kinda… rushed. But I'm in a hurry to get this up xD Lol. Shit, I was gonna say something but I forgot. D: Sorry for the short chapter? No that's not it, BUT YEAH I STILL APOLOGIZE FOR THAT. I'm still trying to get into the story. Umm sorry if there's any mistakes. I checked it over but knowing me, I missed a lot of things. xD and yes I know I ramble too much. I write author's notes longer than the chapters. SO REVIEW PLEASE! And keep the "I loved it" reviews to a minimum please? I mean, it's great to know… but I need more than that ): but it's okay, I'm just saying. :D


	3. TWO: A LITTLE TOO NOT OVER YOU

I'M ALIVE! Well I apologize for this delay in giving out this chapter haha. Since my last update I've been swamped with school work and I finished an eight paragraph essay on comparing these two books. IT SUCKED. A lot. And I was gonna update on the weekend but I let the laziness get the best of me –looks innocent- Anyways I'm sorry for not updating sooner. I want to thank everyone for their amazing feedback on this story, it really means a lot to me! I got lazy with the replying to reviews so scrap that lol.

**Note;** I'm not sure how the American system works, but at my school it's Prom THEN finals then grad and all that other stuff. Lol. Just so you know.

**Dedication:** Alyssaaaaa cuz her love for David Archuleta inspired me for this chapter. No I'm kidding xD and I forgive you for making me depressed earlier on today. I'm serious lol. AND SILVIA TOO cuz she's been one of the main supporter of my fanfics since day one xD

**Disclaimer:** uhmm… no.

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**CHAPTER TWO:  
A LITTLE TOO NOT OVER YOU**

'_Should be strong, moving on, but I see you  
Sometimes I try to hide, what I feel inside  
And I turn around, you're with him now.  
I just can't figure it out  
__Tell me why you're so hard to forget  
Don't remind me, I'm not over it  
Tell me why I can't seem to face the truth  
I'm just a little too not over you…'_  
**  
- David Archuleta; **_**A Little Too Not Over You.**_

-----

_'Fucking broken heart…'_ he cursed mentally before hitting his head on the cool metal locker repeatedly, not caring about the throbbing pain coming from his forehead. He couldn't stand it. It wasn't supposed to be this hard on his part. He was the one that broke up with her. He was the one that thought he was doing the right thing before he was the one that got hurt. It was jealously, he knew that for a fact. He was jealous over the fact he had seen her so happy with him. No one made her smile like that except him and seeing her smile to another, it tortured him inside. Jealousy had filled Troy immensely but he kept reassuring himself that Gabriella loved him with ever fiber in her body. She told him every single fucking day. He should've known better, she had never looked at another person ever in their relationship. Troy's jealously got the best of him, thinking if she was so happy with some other guy then he could just let her go. But the whole jealously thing wasn't the only reason why he broke up with her. As he replayed his reason in his head it was kind of obvious what he was thinking.

It was a stupid, idiotic, fucked up reason.

_'You're a fucking asshole, Bolton.'_ He turned the dial of the lock on his locker and he groaned when he couldn't open it. After three tries he finally opened it and when he did he wished he didn't. Right there, dangling on one of the hooks was Gabriella's heart-shape locket. With a shakily breath, he slowly lifted his hand, taking the silver jewelry off the hook and held it securely in his hand. The tears threatened to fall from his ocean blue eyes, his stomach turned inside of him. He fucked up so badly. Resting his head on the edge of his locker door, he grabbed his backpack, emptying out everything that he had in the metal locker he had used for the past four years of his high school life. After he placed the locket into his pocket where the velvet box was held, he sighed. Right now, all he had to worry about was finals and he couldn't even think straight because a certain beautiful and petite brunette kept entering his head everywhere he went.

"Yo! Hoops!"

Troy looked up from his locker, hoping he didn't look like he was on the verge of crying. He had done that a lot over the past few days; he didn't want to break down at school, just in the confinements of his home. Seeing his best friend, Troy nodded slightly at the afro-haired boy and went back to cleaning his locker. How was he supposed to study for exams? He was certain he was going to fail. Him and Gabriella always had tutoring sessions Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays after school and now he was certain she wasn't going to help him now, not after what he did to her.

"I'm going to bomb the English exam." Chad Danforth stated, placing his signature basketball under his arm, when he approached his best friend's locker, leaning on the metal box beside his. Troy looked over at him and a slight smile graced his face for the first time today. What Chad was saying, it was a joke really. Ever since his best friend started dating Taylor, his grades were improving by a lot. No longer was Chad Michael Jordan (to say Troy was amused at the young age of five would be an understatement) Danforth getting C's and D's, instead he was getting B's and once in a blue moon, A's.

"Dude, you're not going to fail." Troy reassured him as he closed his bag and closed his locker with a slam. Chad looked over at him and shook his head, nerves evident on his structured face, "Troy, you don't know that man. You're not God!"

Rolling his blue eyes that once held so much life in them, he pushed his best friend's shoulder as if to say 'Snap out of it', before turning on his heel but he froze when he saw the beautiful figure that had been on his mind all day at her locker. He was so goddamn stupid…

"Did you try talking to her?"

Turning to look at him, Troy's shoulders slumped and nodded softly, "She said she had nothing to say to me, turned on her heel and left for homeroom."

If there was one thing Chad knew he was confident in was that Troy loved Gabriella more than anything else in the world. He looked at their situation through both points of view. Chad knew Troy broke up with Gabriella for a reason and he knew he would've done the same thing with Taylor if he was in the same situation as Troy. But he also knew how shitty it was for Gabriella and how Troy should've taken a different approach instead of breaking her heart on Prom night.

"Don't you guys have a tutoring session tonight?"

Troy nodded before groaning loudly, "I doubt she's going to help me now. I don't get Chemistry at all and with what's happening right now, I doubt I'll pass all my classes, period. Why is this so hard? I mean, I didn't think it would affect me because I thought I was doing the right fucking thing but now I- " he stopped midsentence when he saw _him_ approach his now ex-girlfriend's locker. His hand gripped the strap of his backpack that was slung over his shoulder and averted his eyes away from the two. It was like the break up wasn't affecting her at that moment. She was smiling again, she didn't look broken at all. He couldn't figure it out.

"They're just friends, Troy." Chad stated putting a hand on his best friend's shoulder.

"It doesn't matter anymore… she doesn't want me to explain. She wants nothing to do with me," he said dejectedly before walking off to his beat up truck in the middle of the East High parking lot as quickly as he could.

He hated it so much. He hated the fact that the thought of the future scared him. Three years together and now he was scared? When Troy approached his truck he threw his bag into the passenger seat before taking his own seat in the driver's and hit his head on the steering wheel. The reality of them being far away from each other, the fact that things were changing, it was all hitting him like a ton of bricks. His reason for breaking up with her was stupid. She loved him and he loved her more than anything else in the word, they would've made it through the distance and the changes together. Troy told himself he was doing the right thing. His Gabriella was going to away with a guy who had been hitting on her since last year. A guy Gabriella said she was just friends with and Troy's jealously got the best of him. He was already losing her and they hadn't even graduated yet. He didn't want to get hurt in the end but he did, breaking up with her was the hardest thing he ever had to do.

With tears threatening to fall from his blue eyes for what seemed the millionth time that day, he put his truck into reverse speeding off to the place he locked himself in through the whole weekend. Gripping the wheel tightly he let out a shaky breath and he turned left towards his neighbourhood.

Too bad he didn't see the speeding truck coming at him full speed.

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DON'T HATE ME. _–dodges a chair being thrown-_ It was a spur of the moment lol. I had to write it. I know it maybe short but we're getting some progress here. Haha. Next chapter I hope it'll be longer cause I have a lot of muse right now xD OH and now you guys know the reason! I told you it was really really really stupid. BOYS ARE STUPID. Haha. You'll find out who him, is eventually and he's not who you guys think he is. Chyeahh.

If there's any grammar and spelling, I'm really sorryyy lol. I just want this done cuz you guys have been waiting so long xD Haha. I hope it was okay xD Please R&R!

Now I have to write my Zanessa one-shot for the lj community oldmarrieds ;D


	4. THREE: LET GO

New username ! Haha I love one word usernames, there's just something about them that… captivates ;D me. HAHA Okay that was lame. I apologize.

Next chapter already?! Haha yeah I know xD Not much to say except that last sentence in the last chapter… because Britni was being all "LOL THAT'S FUNNY"… ignore I wrote it? Well don't ignore I wrote it just ignore how I worded it. No one seemed to mind though except for Britni so it's all good xD I forgot in the last chapter that I hope you guys had a very Merry Christmas if you celebrate it at all (: and because of my lack in updating I have another chapter for you all.

**Dedication:** xo LAILAIxo oh my goodness your review put a smile on a face. IT WAS SO LONG I FELT SPECIAL _–cough-cough- _Haha. I'm glad you like this story and like where I'm going with this. Your review was actually the one that gave me the push to write. Two days ago I had a lot of muse and tried to focus on the adorableness that is Zanessa but when I got your review I started to write the next chapter for this story xD

**Disclaimer:** I would take this time to say I own High School Musical… in my dreams. The day I own High School Musical is the day the world is a square, k? k.

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**CHAPTER THREE:  
LET GO**

_'Just let go of everything you know.  
Of everyone you thought you knew  
Cause they've had their fun  
And washed their hands of me.  
The sweet surrender.  
There's nothing better to believe  
When everyone turns and it's all on you  
To make it through the night'_  
**  
- Thieves and Villains; **_**Let Go.**_

-----

Something was wrong.

It was like she got a blow to the heart when she was walking down the hall with Ryder Carson, a guy she had now considered one of her best friends. She knew him through Ryan and Sharpay, Ryder was part of the Drama club and as she waited for Troy after practice one day, she met him. She basically told him everything, especially with what happened three days ago. Gabriella knew somewhere deep inside of her heart that Troy was jealous during the time they were dating. To be honest, any guy would be jealous of Ryder, no doubt about that. He was an outstanding five foot eleven with blonde hair and sea green eyes. He acted, sang, dance, and played soccer on the side. He was like the All-American boy. There was something that made him different from typical "All-American" boys.

He was gay.

And he (Ryder) freaked out about it. That was why he flirted his ass off with Gabriella, he was positive that she was the only one that would get him. That's why he was close with her. She was the only one that knew and she was honoured that he trusted her with the secret.

"-holding up?"

Gabriella's head snapped up to look at him, "Huh?" she asked. It was obvious she wasn't listening, her heart was pounding wildly in her chest at the thought of something wrong. Her head was spinning with the never-ending possibilities as well as who was involved.

"I asked how were you holding up," Ryder stated nudging his hip with hers walking through the East High doors. The brunette shrugged slightly, not wanting to explain how hard it was to be in some classes with Troy. She had homeroom, English, and History with the blue-eyed heartbreaker and throughout all three classes she had avoided him like the Plague. It was hard for her not being able to talk to Troy, not being able to look at him without crying or screaming at him. But he hurt her; she wasn't going to forgive him anytime soon.

"I guess I'm doing okay," she said softly, gripping her textbooks tightly against her chest. She had tutoring sessions with Troy on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and if it was before the break up, they would sneak in some kisses but now Gabriella didn't know what to do. She always kept her promises and she knew how much Troy was struggling with Chemistry. Even if they weren't together, she wasn't going to let him fail. She told him she would help him and she wasn't going to let him fail because of their break up. No matter how awkward the night might be.

"Better than yesterday?" Ryder asked putting an arm around her shoulders casually as they approached her car. Gabriella nodded, "Definitely better than yesterday," she assured him, smiling slightly as he opened the door to the driver seat for her.

"He loves you, Gabs. I hope you know that."

Biting her lip, Gabriella shrugged again nodding her head towards the passenger door, motioning him to get him since he had asked her earlier if he could have a ride home. _'If he loved me, he wouldn't have done what he did,_' she thought before putting her keys into the ignition and started the engine. "Just get in the car, Ryder." She said quietly, ignoring the look he sent her and waited patiently for him to get in the passenger seat. When he did, she drove off to Ryder's house in silence, passing by a car accident scene but not bothering to give it a second glance.

-----

It was four o'clock when she got home after dropping off Ryder at his house and when she pulled up in her driveway, her mother's car was gone and she furrowed her eyebrows. Her mother had the day off from work today. Maria Montez was a doctor at Albuquerque General and the only way she wouldn't be home on a day off was if there was a major emergency at the hospital. Sighing, the brunette shut the ignition off, grabbed her bag and walked to the front door. Many memories flashed through her mind to when Troy would bring her home just at her curfew and give her a kiss goodnight. Seeing him at school that day she really wanted to jump into his arms, tell him that she was sorry for anything she did and beg that he forgive her for whatever caused him to break up with her. That just wasn't the case, though.

Once she got into the house she walked into the kitchen, placing her keys on the counter before heading over to the fridge to grab something to eat. She had an hour before she would go over to Troy's house and teach him all he needed too for Chemistry. A note on the fridge caught her eye and she grabbed it once she got the jug of apple juice out of the fridge.

'_Gabi,_

_Emergency at work, don't know when I'll be bac__k. Daddy will be home at eight. Dinner's on the stove. I'll call you if anything. _

_Love Mom.'_

Placing the note on the table, Gabriella took out a glass from the cabinet and wondered what she was going to do in a hour. Basically all she needed to do for school was study for her finals and she didn't feel like studying. The feeling that something was wrong came back to her and as she filled her glass. She hated the feeling. Her phone vibrated in her pocket and she put her glass and the jug of apple juice on the counter before grabbing it. Flipping it open her she frowned slightly when she read the message.

'_Elle,_

_You need to get to the hospital asap._

_xo Tay'_

Seeing the words _asap_, Gabriella finished her drink, put the jug in the fridge before grabbing everything she needed to and rushed out the door. Now something was definitely wrong and whatever it was, it was at the hospital. As she sped off to the hospital, there was one question that had come into mind. Who was hurt?

When she got to the hospital she saw Taylor waiting for her outside of the main entrance. Once she parked she rushed out and greeted her best friend who looked a bit shaken up. Taylor was crying, was it Chad?

"Tay, what happened?" Gabriella asked softly and brought the dark-skinned beauty into a hug. Taylor shook her head, "It was all so sudden. They said he might not have a chance..." she whispered hoarsely, more tears falling from her dark eyes.

"Who, Taylor? Who might not have a chance?" Gabriella questioned as they walked inside the building toward the waiting room outside of the ER. _'It's Chad, oh God. Chad's in the hospital.'_ She thought biting her lip, trying to hold back the tears. Chad was like her brother and he was Taylor's boyfriend, she loved him so much, if he was in the emergency room and didn't make it... Taylor would die. She knew that for a fact.

They got the waiting room and Gabriella looked up and was shocked when she saw Chad comforting a hysterical Joanne Bolton. _'Wait... if Chad's okay... then who's in the-'_

"Gabi." A voice interrupted her thoughts and Gabriella turned around, still holding Taylor close. Her mother. She was dressed in her white coat with a clipboard in hand, it looked as if Maria had no sleep at all.

"Mama? What's going on?" Gabriella looked at her mother desperate for an answer. Someone was hurt and she wanted to know who. Her mind was in complete overdrive that she couldn't even think straight. No one was giving her answers.

"Baby... you might need to sit down..." Maria whispered, her voice cracking. The young brunette shook her head, "Not until someone tells me what's going on," she stated determinedly. She could fell Taylor detach herself from her and she looked over at the torn up girl who opened her mouth to speak, "There was an accident."

Seeing the look on Gabriella's face, Taylor continued, "A witness or bystander, I don't know... said that when he turned, he didn't see the truck speeding his way. The truck driver was fucking drunk and he was hit on impact,"

The brunette's throat felt like closing as she held back her tears knowing that someone close to them was so badly hurt. "Who was it Tay?" she asked quietly, her voice cracking.

"Troy."

That four letter word, that one word was enough to break her more than she already was. No. Not her Troy. Troy was fine. She would be tutoring him in a few minutes, he was fine. With tears welling up in her eyes Gabriella shook her head, "No... no no no no no. No he's fine, Taylor. Tell me he's okay," she begged desperately. She turned to her mother, "Mama. He's fine, right?" Tears were falling from her eyes now. It was like their break up erased completely from her mind. It was the least of her problems now. The only thing that mattered to her was that Troy was okay. He had to be. She loved him.

Maria bit her lip softly as she touched her daughter's shoulder lightly, "Mija..."

Shaking her head she pushed her mother's hand away. _'No he was fine.' _she kept telling herself. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't see straight, the room was spinning and she felt like throwing up. Troy wasn't in the hospital, it was all a dream. Feeling light-headed, her eyes closed and she collapsed to the ground.

* * *

WHAT TWO CLIFFHANGERS IN A ROW?! D: Sorry. Lol. xD Read and review please and thanks! Let's get to 60? (or more _–cough-_) 0:) I know I rushed this. BUT I WANTED TO GET THIS DONE FOR YOU GUYS :D umm... next chapter no one's gonna be all depressed anymore. Kay? Well actually... maybe a bit...

HAPPY NEW YEARS! EVERYONE (: I GOT THIS RIGHT AT 12. I AM AWESOME.


	5. FOUR: SAVE YOU

I'm sorry for not updating in a while. I had a chapter done but I TRIED to make it longer (because Malia xoxox was a sweetheart and left me a really long review again lol) but I still think it's not. and then I just got busy with school and haven't had time to post this up until now. I can give you a shitload of excuses but me being crazy with school and shit is the main reason. Another reason though, that has doesn't relate to school is that some serious stuff has been going down with my family. My parents are arguing more than usual and my Godfather passed away in February and it's been kind of hard on me and my family and it was because of that that I stopped writing for a while. But then school picked up again and I haven't had anytime. This year is pretty big for me especially since it's my senior year and all of you have watched High School Musical 3, right? Disney is a bunch of liars. Senior year isn't all what it's cracked up to be lmao. I wish my life was a musical. Seriously.

& I made a mistake, it's exams first then prom. But let's just say the exams are after prom lmfao. Idk. It's my story k lol.

Oh and some of the things said in this chapter are based on true emotions… based on what I said either, I think you will be able to grasp what emotions I'm letting out lmao.

**Dedication:** The girls at ZF. LMAO I know you guys have been anxious for this chapter. But I love your support you guys, haha.

**Disclaimer:** I AM THE FUTURE PRESIDENT OF DISNEY. Bow down to your leader… no? Well… OFF WITH YOUR HEAD. *cough* I would like to take this time and say I do not own High School Musical.

* * *

**CHAPTER FOUR:  
SAVE YOU**

_'I can tell, how much you hate this.  
Deep down inside, you know it's killing me.  
I can call, wish you well, and try to change this.  
But nothing I can say, would change anything.  
__I wish I could say to you, it's gonna be alright._

_Where were my senses? I left them all behind.  
Why did I turn away?_

_I wish I could save you. I wish I could say to you,  
I'm not going nowhere.'_

**- Kelly Clarkson; **_**Save You.**_

-----

Taylor sighed as she ran a hand through her short dark hair, sitting by the head of her best friend who was situated on a hospital bed at that moment. Gabriella had collapsed at the news of Troy Alexander Bolton almost a half an hour ago. Taylor knew her the Latina did not deserve this kind of pain inflicted on her. The love of her life was in a fucking car accident all because of a fucking drunk driver, a few days ago said love of her life broke up with her on prom night. Gabriella was way too sweet to have anymore hurt in her life.

"Hey babe,"

The dark-skinned African American girl looked up from her seat by Gabriella's bed and smiled softly, "Hey sweetie," she said as Chad made his way over to her and collected his girlfriend into his arms. He hated the fact that their best friends were in the hospital. He hated the fact they were so miserable without each other. To the untrained eye, you couldn't see pass both Troy and Gabriella's façade that they were fine – well Gabriella's façade. She was doing a better job at hiding her pain better than Troy was – but if you were Chad or Taylor, you knew that everything was wrong.

"How is she?" he asked nodding his head towards the figure who seemed lifeless on the bed. Taylor shrugged, her eyes staring at Gabriella then back to her boyfriend, "Maria said her body's just in shock. She's doing more tests as we speak," she stated softly bringing her arms to wrap around his neck, "How's Joanne? Shouldn't you be with her?"

"Coach got here a few minutes ago and he's with her right now," he replied tightening his grip on her waist. Chad rested his head on his girlfriend's before sighing loudly. It just wasn't fair to the two people in the hospital right now. One basically trying to fight of his life, the other in complete and utter shock due to the fact that the one fighting for his life is actually fighting for his life.

"What about Chase and Callie?" Taylor wondered aloud, referring to Troy's four-year-old siblings who were over at Chad's house playing with his six-year-old brother. "I'm going to get them out of my mom's hair in a few..." he chuckled lightly before kissing her head softly.

"This isn't fair, Chad…" she whispered quietly, "Neither of them deserve this!" she exclaimed exasperatedly. Chad kissed her head softly, trying to whisper soothing words in his girlfriend's ear. "I know baby…"

"She loves him!" she argued on Gabriella's behalf to God. He was always listening, right? So maybe He just had to listen a little bit harder. "You can't take him away from her! She'll die without him and you know it! It's not fucking fair!" tears started to cascade down the dark girl's face as she withdrew a shaky breath. Troy was like the older brother she wished she always had. If it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have met Gabriella when they were five years old. They wouldn't be close, their parents wouldn't be the best of friends, and she wouldn't have ever met Chad. It was Gabriella that gave her Chad Michael Jordan Danforth. It was Gabriella that made her realize she was in love with the bushy haired boy. It was Gabriella that gave her the most important person in her life. Taylor couldn't imagine her life without Chad, without Gabriella anymore.

Pressing his lips against his girlfriend's forehead, Chad rubbed her arm softly, trying to calm her down. Glancing at the petite brunette on the bed, he looked up, closing his eyes tightly, resting his chin on Taylor's head and silently prayed that God would give them the strength to get through this.

-----

Jack Bolton was never a man to cry. He was always the strong one out of his family but as he and his wife sat in the waiting room he could feel tears leaking in the corner of his eyes. He didn't let them fall though, he had to be strong for his wife, he had to be strong for his family.

Those four words still haunted his head, remembering what Chad had said over the phone. 'There's been an accident.' His immediate reaction was his wife or one of the twins. Never Troy. Troy was always the cautious one, the one who would choose his decisions wisely - except for recently. Finding out that Troy had broken up with Gabriella on prom night was like finding out hell had frozen over or Darbus had finally accepted cell phones in her "chapel of the arts". It just wasn't possible. Jack knew how much Troy was head over heels in love with Gabriella, she was the cheese to his macaroni, the love of his life, and all those other sappy pairings.

"I'm going to check on Gabi," Joanne said hoarsely, sniffing and wiping her tears as she stood up. Watching as his wife get on her feet, he stood up as well, his arm wrapping around her waist as he kissed her temple, "I'll come with you," he offered, only to have his wife shake her head softly. They both thought of Gabriella as another daughter to them, especially since they were so close to her parents. "It's okay, Jack. It'll only take a minute. Carlos should be here soon and he'll be welcomed by no one," she stated quietly and got out of his grip, "You can go see her after. I need to get up anyways."

Nodding, he let go of his wife and felt her kiss his cheek before she left him there in the waiting room, heading towards the room that Gabriella was currently occupying.

-----

"… _Hey Gabs, can we talk?" Troy asked interrupting her from her talk with the girls. Her long brown hair flew when she turned around to look at him, a bright smile plastered on her face as her red prom dressed twirled beneath her. His heart broke at the sight of her, knowing that in a short few minutes that smile would turn upside down and her rich brown eyes would fill with tears. But it was for the best, well in his opinion anyways. He couldn't believe he was about to break the one person he loved more than anything else in the world. 'It's for the best, Bolton. For the fucking best.'_

"_Sure Wildcat," Gabriella smiled at him, interlacing her fingers with his when she grabbed his hand. They made their way towards glass doors that led out into the beautiful garden belonging to the hotel their prom was at. He watched as she made her way over to a stone bench, the moon illuminating down on her and to him, it looked as if she was sparkling in the moonlight. Troy could feel a strong tug on his heart and he tried so badly not to let his tears fall at that moment. He didn't want to do this, but he had to. He had to protect them, he had to protect his heart from getting hurt. _

_It was stupid. He was jealous, he hated the fact that he was jealous. Ryder was a cool guy but the fact that he was hanging around his girlfriend way too much, you couldn't help but wonder. There had been rumours going around the school that they were hooking up behind his back but Troy always shook them off. He knew she loved him, she told him everyday and she would never lie to him, but he couldn't stop thinking about it. Not only was he jealous but there was one major reason why he was going to break her heart to protect his own- as stupid as it may have sounded._

_College. _

_He was proud of her, he really was. She was going to Oxford, one of the most prestigious universities in the world. All the way to fucking London, England. He couldn't understand why she wanted to go to Oxford, Stanford and Harvard were just as good. He couldn't stand the fact that she'd be in another country as her, he just couldn't. 'She'll find a British guy while she's there, she'd forget all about me…' He kept telling his head that, ignoring what his heart was saying, just listening to his head. He knew how stupid and unreasonable and idiotic he was being, you couldn't blame him though. He was scared._

"_What do you want to talk about?" Gabriella asked softly, brushing the skirt of her dress as she looked at her boyfriend of three years. Raising a hand, Troy rubbed the back of his neck, something she knew he did when he was nervous about something. Furrowing her eyebrows slightly, concern etched her beautiful features and Troy wanted nothing more than for the ground to swallow him up from the ground knowing that he was going to break her in a matter of seconds. 'It's for the best Troy,' his head stated. 'Why on prom night? Why not tomorrow?' his heart reasoned. 'Because it's going to be harder if I wait even more.' Troy thought, forcing the tears not to leak out of his eyes as he kneeled in front of the gorgeous goddess-like girl he had been in love with ever since he was thirteen years old, not caring that his suit was going to get destroyed. _

"_Gabriella…" he started taking her small hands into his big ones, kissing the backs of them before looking into her deep brown eyes in the moonlight. "I love you, you know that right?" he asked softly causing her to furrow her eyebrows even more, "Yeah Troy, of course I do. What is this about?" she questioned, taking one of her hands out of his and caressed the side of his face. He leaned into her touch, tears starting to well in his eyes, knowing it was now or never. He had to do it. Gabriella wiped a tear that cascaded down his cheek, wondering what on earth was causing her boyfriend to cry in front of her._

"_Troy, what's wron-"_

"_I can't do this anymore," his voice cracked and he swore he could hear her heart shatter into a million pieces. It was like their relationship flashed through their eyes and tears started to form in her eyes. He was joking right? _

"_W-Wha-t?" she hoarsely, wishing badly she hadn't heard right. She pulled her hands away from him and looked at him in disbelief. He was breaking up with her? Why? They were so happy. He was her everything, the soul purpose why she woke up in the morning, the reason why she always had a smile on her face._

"_I'm sorry…" he whispered lifting his hand to wipe away her tears only to have her slap his hand away. She couldn't believe he was sorry. He broke her, he couldn't be sorry. "Why?" she asked, wrapping her arms around herself, she stood up moving as far as she could away from him, her heart breaking with each step she took. Troy shut his eyes tightly as his fists rested on the bench she was at before. Turning his body, still on his knees, he looked at her desperately wishing that he could take it all back but knew he couldn't. His mind had been made up._

"_Gabriella, it's not that I don't love you," he said quietly, "I do, so fucking much. I just can't do this anymore-"_

"_Why now?" she asked hysterically, not in a way that made her seem whiney, but in a way that made her furious at his actions. Furious that he broke her. "Why not tomorrow or a few days ago? Why break us up now? Why on prom night?" she wondered, emphasizing the words prom night. Troy bit his lip standing up and made his way over to her, "Brie-"_

"_No!" she exclaimed putting her hands out so that he wouldn't take a step further, hot tears raining down her face as she shook wildly, choking back her sobs. "You have no right to call me that." she snapped at him, shaking her head. She let out a shaky breath before looking at him dead in the eye._

"_I hate you."_

_Troy felt a stab in his chest as she said those three words, tears starting to fall from his blue eyes. He saw her turn on her heel before running back into the hotel ballroom and he just lost it. He sobbed loudly, not caring if anyone heard him, reaching into his pocket he took out the dark blue velvet box before whipping his harshly onto the stone wall of the hotel, making it crack open and reveal a gorgeous diamond ring wrapped in a silver band. Now he wished he took the other idea and not break up with her, if it wasn't for his stupid head, they would've been engaged right then and there. 'Fuck my fucking life.' he thought before walking over to the ring and picked it up. He started to walk back to the ballroom, it wasn't until he saw a flash of pink and blonde make her way over to him._

"_Bolton!" she shrieked._

_-----_

His eyes opened slowly and his eyes started to adjust to the light. He could see someone from the corner of her eye wearing a white coat. Maria walked over to the boy on the bed and smiled softly, "You're awake." she said softly to the teen she saw as a son she and Carlos never had. Troy's bright blue eyes squinted slightly as he tried to sit up, a shot of pain running up his casted leg and arm.

"Be careful, Troy, you got hit pretty badly," Maria stated grabbing his clipboard and writing down some information. Looking over at Maria, Troy stared at her for the longest time before opening his mouth to speak,

"Do I know you?"

* * *

UHMM HI R&R PLEASE. SORRY IT WASN'T LONG. I NEEDED TO GET THIS UP. There might be some mistakes... sorry... DON'T HATE ME…. *RUNS AWAY*


	6. FIVE: DON'T FORGET ME

I know that if I say sorry a million times it still doesn't make up for it but it's not my fault! School's been hectic BUT GUESS WHAT. YOU ARE NOW TALKING… TO A HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATE (': Chyeahh I am DONE DONE DONE high school FOREVER. Thank God lmao.

I'm going to try and update regularly now but it's going to be quite hard at times cause I'll be hanging out with my friends a lot since a few are getting the hell out of Toronto lmao. But I'll try :D

**Dedication: **Britni (_TinyDancer14_) I MISS YOU D: A LOT. I FAIL AT EMAILING BUT IT'S NOT MY FAULT… I get lazy… But yeah you've been by me for… a really long while and I love you lots! (: We're both supporters of each other's writing (although I'm really lazy to review… BUT YOU KNOW THIS SO WHY AM I EXPLAINING) you inspire me to be a better writer… ngl ;)

**Disclaimer: **Tfanify deon'st own Hgih Shocol Msuiacl or A Rckoet to the Moon ;)

* * *

**CHAPTER FIVE:  
****DON'T FORGET ME**

'_So kiss me gently, cause I'll never let it go  
I bet you never thought that this was how the song goes  
And while your listening, I am really trying  
The words I never said will keep your eyes from crying_

_This is the way it was, the way it is, it should be  
We fell in love with one another like the movies  
And well both realize that we can both be happy  
I wont forget you and I hope you wont forget me…'_

**- A Rocket to the Moon; **_**Don't Forget Me**_

-----

Her hand jerked slightly as she started to become more conscious of her surroundings. Fluttering her eyes open, her eyes adjusted to the bright light above her and she squinted before running her hands over her eyes. Her head hurt. Looking around the room, Gabriella noted that she was in a vacant hospital room and she was on a hospital bed. The hospital.

Troy…

She immediately sat up, detaching herself from the depressing pale blue sheets that made her confined to the hard, uncomfortable hospital bed before a hand soothed her head lovingly and her brown eyes were met with the blue ones that she was very well familiar with. Joanne gave her a soft smile, knowing that the only thing that was going through Gabriella's head was the condition of her son, the love of Gabriella's life. No words were said between the two as Gabriella looked at her, tears welling up in her eyes and she started to sob. There was no need to have anything said between the two. Joanne just knew how much Troy meant to one of the girls she considered another daughter. Despite the fact that what happened last Friday, she knew Gabriella still loved him and will always love him even if he did hurt her. Bringing the girl into her arms, Joanne kissed her head and the brunette clung onto her as if she were her last life line.

"Everything's going to be alright Gabi, I promise." Joanne whispered, kissing her head and rubbing her back soothingly.

-----

"How is he?" a masculine voice asked placing a hand on Jack's shoulder comfortingly. Jack looked up and stared into the dark brown eyes of his best friend. Sighing, he ran a hand through his light brown hair, "Maria said he's in stable condition although I want to see him to believe it. He's got a broken leg, fractured arm, and a concussion. He's got some stitches above his left eye and that's all she said." Carlos Montez gave his friend a sympathetic smile and sat beside him in the empty seat, not knowing what to say. Carlos was never a man to think of something to say in situations like he was in at the moment. He didn't know what to say when Maria's father was sent to the hospital because of a heart attack, he didn't know what to say to his daughter when she came home on Friday night, tears streaming down her beautiful cheeks, he was a quiet person and to him, actions spoke louder than words.

Carlos was his wife's shoulder when her father was on his deathbed, he was his daughter's punching bag when she asked over and over again what she did wrong in order for Troy to break up with her. With his best friend? He would be his support. They had been through a lot for more than twenty five years, being best friends for more than half their lives, he would always be there for him. Even if his best friend's son hurt his baby girl they were still best friends and although Carlos knew he should've hated Troy, he didn't. He was still the son he wished he had.

"Does Gabi know?"

Jack nodded his head sadly, "She fainted when she found out. She looked so broken, 'Los. I get that Troy hurt her but you could see how badly she was hurting when Maria and Taylor told her what happened."

The dark-haired man held his breath, his baby girl was hurting, "Where is she?" he asked looking around, wanting to know if Gabriella was okay.

"Maria got a few nurses to bring her to an empty room. Joanne's with her right now." Jack replied. "She's okay, Carlos. Maria said she was fine, she's just when into a bit of a shock but she'll be okay."

Carlos nodded. _'Hopefully…'_

-----

Maria sighed as she stood in front of Chad and Taylor. She hated to be the bearer of bad news but when you were a doctor, it was part of your job description. Chase and Calysse "Callie" Bolton looked back and forth between the two teens and their Auntie wondering what was going on. Taylor bit her lip as she looked at Maria, "Are you sure?" she asked softly. She didn't want to believe it was true. The doctor nodded, "He didn't know who I was, he doesn't know who his parents are, he doesn't know much except for the basics of him, he didn't know where he was at that moment."

"_Be careful, Troy, you got hit pretty badly," Maria stated grabbing his clipboard and writing down some information. Looking over at Maria, Troy stared at her for the longest time before opening his mouth to speak,_

"_Do I know you?"_

_Maria raised her eyebrow, "Excuse me?" she asked furrowing her eyebrows, her pen stopping in the middle of her paper. Troy shook his head, wincing as the cut above his left eyebrow stung. "I'm sorry, that came out wrong." he said gruffly, coughing to regain his voice, "Are you a doctor?"_

_The brunette stared at him and was at his side almost immediately, "Yes I am. I'm Doctor Montez." she whispered 'Or Maria.' she wanted to say out loud, scribbling something down on her clipboard. "Do you know who you are?" _

_Troy nodded slightly, "Troy Bolton." _

"_Do you know what day it is?"_

"_June fifteenth?"_

_Maria nodded, "Year?"_

"_Two thousand nine."_

"_Do you know where you are?"_

"_The hospital-" _

"_Yes but I meant do you know where you're from?"_

_The boy on the bed thought for a moment before shaking his head. He creased his forehead, wincing again slightly as he looked at her, "I feel like I know you from somewhere." he whispered. Maria bit her lip and put the clipboard down. She grabbed his hand and he didn't pull away. "That's because you do, Troy." she whispered back. "To you right now, I may be a doctor but I'm also your parents' best friend."_

"_Parents?" he asked as if he didn't know who they were. Maria felt her heartbreak and she nodded, "Yes, parents. Joanne and Jack Bolton. Do you remember them?" _

_Again, Troy shook his head, "They sound familiar but I don't…"_

_She let out a shaky sigh before patting his hand softly, "It's okay, Troy. Everything will be explained to you once I get everyone updated on your condition." She stood up, giving him a slight smile before heading for the door._

"_Um, Doctor Montez?" he asked just before she left. Maria turned to Troy, "Yes, Troy?" _

"_Is there a chance that I'll get my memory back? I feel really bad for not knowing the people who raised me." Troy said quietly. Maria softly smiled and nodded for what seemed like the umpteenth time, "There is, but there's also a chance that you may not, it depends on you." Giving him one last smile she left the room, leaving him in deep thought._

Taylor let out a shaky breath a looked at Chad who was shaking. Disbelief was evident in his brown eyes and he shook his head like what Maria just told them would go away and that Troy was fine.

"He has amnesia and he only remembers a few things and if he wants to remember then we have to help him remember."

"This isn't fair." Chad whispered painfully. Taylor held his waist tightly as she placed her forehead onto his bicep. "I know, Chad. It'll be okay-"

"You don't know that, Taylor!" he exclaimed causing the two women plus the two kids jump. "My best friend doesn't know who his parents are, he doesn't know who we are, he doesn't know his goddamn past!"

"Chad!" Taylor scolded nodding her head towards Chase and Callie who were on the verge of 'ooh-ing' at Chad's choice in words but at the moment Chad didn't really care.

"It's not fair, Tay and you know it isn't. He doesn't deserve this and you know what? That girl who fainted in the middle of the waiting room a few hours ago is going to be crushed. Troy doesn't know anything about their relationship, he doesn't know how much she still loves him. He. Doesn't. Remember. Anyone." he hissed. "The only good thing about this is that he doesn't remember hurting Gabriella."

He looked at Maria and Taylor again before walking off, muttering something about wanting some air. Taylor groaned and looked at Maria who was giving Taylor a sympathetic smile. "He'll come around, Taylor. Don't worry."

"Auntie M?"

Maria crouched down to Chase's size, "Yes sweetie?"

"When Chad said that Troy remembers nobody, does that mean he doesn't know us?" Chase asked softly. Callie's blue eyes started to fill with tears understanding her brother clearly. Maria kissed both their foreheads before hugging them close to her, "Troy's just really sick right now, sweeties, you can help him remember. If you can help him remember then he'll be okay, he'll be back to normal in no time." Maria didn't know what else to say, she didn't want to hurt Chase and Callie by saying, 'yes', she just had to think positive for all of them.

"You promise?" Callie asked looking at her Auntie. Both Taylor and Maria looked at each other before looking back at the two four-year-olds. Hugging the two so that her hands were away from their view, she crossed her fingers and Taylor felt tears starting to leak from her eyes when she saw what Maria was doing.

"I promise." she uttered softly, as if it were a secret between them and she stood up and grabbed each of their hands, getting ready to tell Joanne and Jack the condition of their oldest son.

-----

Gabriella had excused herself to go to the washroom once she had finished crying her eyes out to Joanne and Joanne told her she would be in the waiting room with Jack when she was done. Seeing Carlos, Joanne gave him a hug, thanking him for being their for all of them.

"Where's Gabi?" he questioned, wondering where his daughter was. "She went to the bathroom, she'll be here soon." Joanne reassured him before going to her husband and hugged him tightly. Jack kissed her forehead and spotted Maria, Taylor and his two youngest coming their way.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Callie exclaimed running towards them. Jack held his arms out for his only daughter and held her tightly as Chase came running as well towards his mother. Maria walked up to Carlos and hugged him before turning to the Bolton family.

"How is he Maria?" Joanne asked softly, leaning onto Jack for support for what was about to come.

"He's awake and that's a good thing." Maria replied and bit her lip.

"But there's something wrong, isn't there?" Jack wondered aloud, holding Callie tightly. Maria nodded, "He has-"

"Mama?"

Maria turned around and saw her daughter standing there with anxiousness etched across her face. "Gabriella…"

Gabriella walked to Taylor who held her hand for support, "How's Troy? Is he okay?"

The older Montez woman looked at the people around her and shut her eyes tightly. She hated this, she really did. Carlos felt her tense up and he kissed her temple soothingly. Taking a deep breath Maria didn't even realize a single tear fell down her cheek.

"Troy's okay, mija." she said gently, "But he has amnesia. He doesn't remember anybody, he doesn't know his parents…" she watched as Joanne let out a sob, "he doesn't know where he is…" Jack looked down in deep thought, "he only knows who he is, the day, the year…" Carlos held her tightly, "he-"

"He doesn't remember me…" Gabriella said painfully. It was as if her heart was constricting inside her chest and she couldn't breathe for the second time that day. Just as she thought she couldn't produce anymore tears, they leaked from her eyes and she let go of Taylor's hand before running out of the waiting room towards the entrance of the hospital. She didn't believe that there would be anything that would top how much hurt she got when Troy broke up with her but now there was. Troy had amnesia. He didn't remember her at all, he didn't know about the love they shared, he didn't know about their past. She kept on running and rain started to fall to the ground but she didn't stop until she collided into familiar arms.

Chad.

He held her tightly and she started to bawl her eyes out, her whole body shaking as they stood out there in the rain, hoping and praying that no more hurt would come their way.

* * *

Violaaa (: R&R please ! Hopefully this makes up for my absence? LOL. :D If I get motivation... I may update quicker ;) just saying.


	7. SIX: BREAKEVEN

I need to update more. I know. Thank you so much for the reviews guys, at least I know some of you are still sticking by me with this story :') I'm going to shut up now so that we can get through this chapter and then the next one because I've aready started it :D review this chapter kay? Don't forget please xD

**Dedication: **Diana _(Unproper Grammar). _You've helped me in picking the song for this chapter and I love you and Silvia sfm :D Our twitter convos rock. 'Nuff said. This is for you bby xoxox P.S. Now update Mami and maybe I'll update quickly… -cough-

**Disclaimer: **NOTHINGGGG OKAY. Good (y)

* * *

**CHAPTER SIX:  
****BREAKEVEN**

__

'You got his heart and my heart and none of the pain,  
You took your suitcase, I took the blame.  
Now I'm tryna make sense of what little remains, oh.  
'Coz you left me with no love, with no love to my name.

I'm still alive but I'm barely breathing,  
Just prayed to a god that I don't believe in,  
'Coz I got time while she got freedom,  
'Coz when a heart breaks no it don't break,  
No it don't break, no it don't break even no.'

**- The Script; **_**Breakeven**_

-----

They didn't know how long they were out there. Once Gabriella's sobs subsided and Chad's soothing words were hushed, they sat on a nearby bench in silence. There was nothing said between the two, they were so consumed into their thoughts. Troy did not remember them. At all.

He didn't remember the two people that raised him, he didn't remember the birth of his siblings, he didn't remember the love of his life since forever or the parents of said love of his life, he didn't remember meeting Chad in kindergarten when they bonded over basketball, or meeting Taylor around the same time he met Chad, he didn't remember anything.

Chad's cell started to ring and Gabriella lifted her head from his shoulder rubbing her bloodshot eyes before bringing her knees up to her chest and rested her forehead onto them. Sighing, the afro-haired boy took out his phone and glanced at the caller id.

"It's Shar."

The brunette raised her head and watched as he hesitated to answer. It was understandable. Sharpay Michelle Evans had no idea what was going on, Gabriella did say she was going to call her later on tonight and the blonde probably called everyone else too, but with everything going on, she had no intentions of calling the blonde at the moment. Not when Troy was in the hospital.

Taking a deep breath, Chad raised the phone and pressed the green button.

"Hello?"

"Danforth! Where the fuck is everyone?! You know I've been trying to call your fucking houses since five o'clock?! Do you have any idea what time it is now? Seven! Seven fucking o'clock-"

Gabriella giggled softly, hearing Sharpay screaming on the phone and Chad grimacing holding the phone far away from his ear. She reached her hand out to Chad who graciously gave the phone to her and she placed the earpiece by her ear.

"-I've been calling for two hours! I-"

"Shar…" Gabriella interrupted softly causing the blonde on the other end of the phone to stop. "I'm sorry we haven't called. Something happened."

She could hear silence in the end and the heavy breathing of the drama queen, probably catching her breath from yelling at Chad moments ago, "What happened?"

"I… we're… at the hospital.." Gabriella whispered, tears threatened to fall from her eyes again as she tried to blink them back. Shutting them tightly she winced when the blonde shrieked on the other end.

"What?!"

Wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, Gabriella sniffed loudly, leaning onto Chad and clutched the electronic device to her ear tightly.

"We're at the hospital." she repeated, "I'm fine, Chad's fine, Tay's fine-"

"Then why are you guys at the hospital?" Sharpay pressed confused.

"Troy got hit by a drunk driver on his way home from school." the brunette choked out. "He's the one that's in here, Shar. He's the one that's laying on a fucking hospital bed."

Silence.

"Shar?" Gabriella asked quietly. She was probably going to get yelled at by the blonde for being at the hospital for the same guy that broke her heart. Out of everyone in the group, Sharpay was probably the one that turned on Troy the harshest. Troy and Sharpay had a weird relationship, they acted like they were brother and sister, they usually argued more than Ryan did with his own twin. Sometimes people wondered if Ryan and Troy were switched at birth because the Drama Queen and the East High basketball captain seemed to balance each other out. But once she saw Gabriella run out of the hotel, finding out that Troy Bolton had broken one of her best friends' heart, it was as if Troy didn't exist in the overdramatic blonde's life anymore, it was like he was a piece of lint on her Louis Vuitton cashmere sweater and she flicked him off of her.

"Troy's in the hospital?" Sharpay repeated. Gabriella could hear the confusion and disbelief in her voice and she nodded, even though she knew Sharpay couldn't see it.

"Yeah. They-"

"I'll be right over." Sharpay interrupted before hanging up, not giving Gabriella the time to explain his condition.

Sighing, Gabriella pulled the phone away from her ear and shut it off, handing it to Chad who put it back into his pocket.

"Guess who's on her way over?" Gabriella sighed before standing up. Chad groaned in annoyance. It not that he didn't _like_ Sharpay, it was just that she was overly dramatic over every little thing. She knew how to get on everybody's nerves and the fact that she's coming over to the hospital for Troy, after everything she said to him, pissed Chad off to no end.

"Why is she coming here when she made it clear she wanted nothing to do with Troy?" Gabriella shrugged at the question and reached her hand out to Chad. "We should go back inside. Warn everyone that Hurricane Shar is on her way over."

Nodding, he took her hand and kissed her forehead, "Just remember El, even though he doesn't remember any of us, deep down inside he does love us. He still does love you."

Shrugging her shoulders again, Gabriella pulled Chad up with all the strength she had, "Let's just go inside." she whispered softly and she led the way back inside the automatic doors, knowing that whatever waited ahead of them was going to be tough to accept.

-----

Sharpay Evans was always a loud child. In pre-school she was never the one to take her naps, she was exuberant, the wild child, one to go over the top. But when Gabriella mentioned that Troy was in the hospital she suddenly went quiet. Ever since middle school she and Troy didn't have a normal relationship. It was as if they were oil and water, fire and ice, and to many they would say opposites attract, right? Wrong. Ever since day one they knew they weren't right for each other. Troy couldn't stand her, she couldn't stand Troy. But a certain brunette put them together and they became close. She always went to him when Zeke was acting stupid or when her parents were angry with her for maxing out their credit cards, or when Ryan was pissed off at something she did. He was her brother. She told him everything.

Sometimes people had mistaken them for siblings even if they didn't look alike at all but they weren't. There was something about the bond between Troy and Sharpay that seemed like they were. To Sharpay, however, it was hoes over bros, always. Just like Brooke Davis from One Tree Hill had told Peyton so on Friday when she found out Troy had broken the einstienette, she was livid. he didn't know what to think when she found out. No one, not even the haters at school, had pictured Troy as a heartbreaker. On prom night. So she did the thing she thought was right. She pushed him out of her life and sided with Gabriella.

Sharpay didn't understand why the rest of their friends were still talking to him but in some way she also, kind of, understood. Of course Troy would try and explain himself to them but then again, she didn't want to hear it. No matter how close they were, Gabriella was her best friend. One of her best friends. It was always going to be hoes over bros. No matter what.

When she called Gabriella she didn't expect that kind of conversation. She didn't expect the brunette to say that she was at the hospital because Troy got hit by a stupid drunk driver. It was as if the past few days didn't matter anymore, Sharpay felt a sharp pain in her chest as she tried to digest the news. Troy was in the hospital. Her _brother_ was in the hospital. There was only one emotion evident on the blonde's face after the phone call.

Guilt.

"What's the big emergency, Pay?" her blonde twin asked getting into her pink convertible with his composer for a girlfriend getting in behind him. Sharpay, Ryan, and Kelsi were practicing for their drama exam which consisted of re-enacting a play given by Ms. Darbus. They had taken a break during which Sharpay had talked to Gabriella.

After the conversation Sharpay had just told Ryan and Kelsi to get in the car and she didn't need to say it twice. Both Ryan and Kelsi could hear the fear and shock in Sharpay's voice. They still didn't know what was going on.

"Sharpay, what happened?" Kelsi timidly asked.

Resting her head on the steering wheel, Sharpay exhaled sharply before putting her car into reverse and they headed to the hospital.

"We have to go to the hospital." she started, "Troy got hit by a drunk driver."

That's all it took for Kelsi and Ryan to shut their mouths for the rest of the ride.

-----

"Is there any chance that Troy will regain his memory?" Jack asked hoarsely, soothing his wife as much as he could. It had been a few minutes since Gabriella had run out on the news and during that time the waiting room was silent except for the two four-year-olds in the corner with Taylor, playing with the various toys the hospital had to offer.

"It depends on the patient." Maria replied leaning onto her husband. "Sometimes it takes a couple of days or weeks to regain their memory, but depending on them it might even take a couple of months or years." Out of all her years as a doctor, Maria had never had to deliver news like this to people she was so close with. Yes she was a doctor and it was part of the job description but the Bolton family was like her family and telling her best friends that their son didn't remember them hurt her as well.

"Years?" Joanne choked out, wiping furiously at her eyes with a tissue she kept with her since she got to the hospital. "Can we see him, Maria? I need to see my baby…"

The older Montez woman nodded slightly, "Just follow me." she pulled away from Carlos who kissed her forehead, "I'll stay here and wait for Gabi."

"You can go ahead, Jo." Jack pushed her slightly towards the doctor. Joanne let out a shaky breath and grabbed onto Maria's hand who gave her a soft squeeze before leading her into the room where her eldest son was held.

Carlos looked over at Jack who stood rooted in his spot, "You going to be okay?" he asked the other man quietly. Jack shrugged tiredly, "Eventually. I still don't know how to grasp the idea that my son doesn't know anybody."

"Daddy?"

Both men looked up and saw Gabriella standing by the elevators with Chad behind her. Her eyes were slightly damp and her eyes were puffy and red. She was playing with the hem of her t-shirt while looking at the two best friends. Carlos held his arms out for his baby girl and she immediately went into them, holding him tightly and not wanting to let him go.

"Is everything okay?" Chad asked walking towards Taylor and engulfed her into a hug. Jack nodded slightly, "Joanne's seeing him right now-"

"And you, Coach?" the afro-haired African American wondered.

"And I still can't put my head around the fact my son doesn't even remember me."

"Do you want to go see him?" Carlos asked his daughter. Gabriella shook her head roughly, "I don't know if I want too…" she said, her voice muffled by her father's figure. "He doesn't know me dad."

"Well you should still go see him, mija. He does know you deep down inside. His head's just taking a little while to catch up and realize it's you."

"Funny, Chad said the same thing." Gabriella whispered, grinning softly.

"And Chad's right." Carlos pointed out and kissed her forehead again. "I know he hurt you, and I know it's going to take a while for you to trust him again when he regains his memory but he needs you right now. He's going to need all the help he can get."

"I know daddy…" she pulled away from her father and sighed, "I know."

-----

Troy stared at the TV screen in the corner of his room and watched as the Lakers took on the Boston Celtics. After his talk with Maria he sat for a bit wondering what was going to happen after this. He couldn't remember anything except his name and the date, Maria's face was familiar but he couldn't remember her name, he couldn't remember his parents. What kind of person forgot their own parents? Oh right. One that got hit by a drunk and ended up with the second worse possible case amnesia. He was thankful he could remember his own name. At least.

"Troy?"

His eyes moved from the television screen to the doorway where he saw Maria holding hands with someone he assumed was someone close to him.

"I have someone here who wants to see you…is that okay?" he could hear the hesitation in her voice and putting the TV on mute he nodded, "Yeah it's fine, who is it?" he asked.

Then he saw her. She had brown hair that reached her shoulders and her green eyes were full of tears. She was around Maria's age, he could see that, and judging by the hand holding of the doctor and this woman, he was pretty sure they were best friends and that only led to one thing.

His mother.

When Joanne entered the room she was scared. Her baby boy didn't know her and no mother ever wanted to hear that one of her children didn't remember her. It hurt so much. Troy was a mama's boy- not to the extent where people made fun of him- he was always just so close to her. She was the first person he talked to when he started to develop feelings for a certain best friend of his, the same girl she considered a daughter, he was the first person she went to after she found out she was pregnant with the twins. Troy was her baby, he would always be her baby but he didn't remember that.

"Hello."

She held back a sob at the formality of that one word. Her son would've never said 'Hello' to her, he would've probably said something along the lines of 'Sup Mama?' or 'Hey'.

"Hi…" Joanne let out shakily before Maria pulled her towards the bed.

"Troy, I'd like you to meet Joanne Bolton, your mother."

Seeing the pain across his own mother's face caused Troy to bit his lip harshly. He couldn't remember her and it was killing her inside, it was evident and he wished so badly that he could remember her.

"How are you feeling?" his mother asked standing a few feet away from him. She didn't want him to feel too uncomfortable. Troy raised his shoulders, "I could be better." he whispered before looking up at her, "I'm sorry…"

And that's when Joanne broke, he was saying sorry for not remembering her. She walked over to the bed and hugged him tightly and he hugged her back as much as he could. Tears started to fall from his eyes, this was one of the people that raised him and he was hurting her because he didn't know her.

Maria's heart broke at the scene, she couldn't even begin to imagine what Joanne was going through at that moment. If it were Gabriella in Troy's position she was pretty sure she would lose it. Deciding she was going to leave the two alone, the dark haired doctor made her way towards the door but stopped when she saw a figure at the door.

"Ella…" Maria whispered and watched as her daughter walk into the room. Gabriella gave her mother a soft smile and looked at the mother/son duo on the hospital bed, hugging the life out of each other. "They all told me I should see him after Joanne." she whispered back, "I was scared too, but it's okay now. Is he okay?"

Seeing a nod from her mother, she stayed where she was not wanting to interrupt the moment between Joanne and Troy. When they pulled away however, Troy broke his gaze with his mother and glanced up at the door, staring straight at her. Shifting on the balls of her feet, Gabriella didn't know what to say, they just stared at each other for the longest time. She could see the look of confusion on his face, but also a look of longing deep down inside.

"Gabriella."

Maria's head snapped up and turned toward the masculine voice. It wasn't Joanne nor herself and Jack, Carlos and Chad were back in the waiting room. There was only one person who could've said Gabriella's name and that person was currently on a hospital bed.

Troy.


End file.
